Page 10

At midnight, Kade slides into the seat across from me.

I’ve been here for two hours, though.

“Artemis,” he greets me.

Not Tem, not little goddess . He’s not quite as singed as I expected. Truth be told, I don’t know what I wanted. A loss of eyebrows or arm hair? Soot smeared across his cheekbones?

He looks completely fine. His house, however, is far from it. I cruised by it earlier, noting with a smile that it was brought down to the studs.

His car was toast, too.

“You’ve switched up our meeting spot,” I finally say.

No one blinked an eye when I arrived.

Kade glances around. No doubt he cataloged who was in here the second he stepped through the door, but he’s repeating it for show. Men drinking at the bar, a few couples at tables dotted around the place.

No Gabriel. No sign of the bloodshed that took place the last time we were both here.

“What’s up, Kade? I got your cryptic message.” I toss the note on the table between us. “Bad enough that you turned me over to Gabriel. Now threats?”

He narrows his eyes. “Don’t play dumb. It doesn’t suit you.”

I lift one shoulder.

I am calm, cool, and unaffected by any of his bullshit.

“You would’ve thought less of me if I sacrificed Reese to save you.”

“Is that what it came down to? His life for mine?”

“He wouldn’t have woken up.”

I knew that, deep down. Gabriel is crazy, but… I think Kade is just as insane. In a different way, sure, but there’s a screw loose in his brain. There’s something else he’s after, and my distrust of him only climbs the longer he sits across from me.

“What’s the real reason you burned my house down?”

“It was a rental.” I glower at him. “That’s not an admission of guilt, by the way. I’m just saying—it’s not your problem.”

“I bought it just the other day.” He stares at me. “While you were in the hospital.”

A sick feeling twists my gut. “Because you’re staying in Sterling Falls.”

“I had decided on it, yes.”

“No.”

His brow ticks upward. “What do you mean, no?”

“I mean, you can’t stay. It’s… you just can’t.”

He leans forward. He’s so massive, he comes halfway over the table and into my space. His brown eyes search my face, but I have no idea what he’s looking for. I lean away. My back presses into the booth, holding me from escaping farther.

Not unless I want to rush away.

That temptation is cooled, however, when he returns to a normal position.

“Are you okay, Artemis?”

“Perfectly fine.”

“You’re flushed.”

My skin is hot, my muscles unable to relax. I haven’t slept in thirty-six hours. Of course I’m not okay—but the day I admit that is the day I let him hold a knife in my vicinity.

“It’s late,” I say in a clipped voice. “So you just wanted to ask about your house, that’s it.”

Not a question.

Where did Saint tattoo him?

Is it visible?

Unwillingly, my gaze drops to his bare forearms. The sleeves of his black dress shirt are rolled to his elbows, and his tanned forearms are corded. The skin there is clear of ink.

“Ah.” He undoes the top two buttons and parts the fabric. There, on his right pec, is a bandage. “He told you about this.”

I grit my teeth.

“Is that what was behind your act?” His eyes gleam. “Sweet Artemis, are you jealous?”

I choke on my laugh. “In your dreams, Laurent.”

I slide out of the booth. My stitches pull, but I ignore the twinge of pain. I catch the bartender’s attention and point to Kade. “He’s paying my tab.”

The bartender’s eyes widen when he spots Kade.

They must be real chummy here. It’s why he wanted to meet at Madness, with the facade now broken. He’s not an enemy in West Falls—he’s practically a king.

I thought that meeting with Kade would go better.

Or worse.

Instead, it’s left me off-balance.

I mean—of course it’s more about Saint than it is Kade. But I thought Kade and I were… on good terms, I guess? It’s not like I ever did anything to him.

Minus hide Reese in my condo for a little while.

But that wasn’t bad , it was just concealment.

This is personal. Giving me up to the fucking madman Gabriel has become, choosing Reese…

Kade chooses Reese.

Saint chooses Kade.

It’s all laughable, really, how large the pit in my chest has become. I swipe at my face, making sure there are no tears, but that hollowness has spread to my emotions, too.

I stop on the sidewalk a few feet away from my bike. Someone leans against it, practically blending in with the shadows. In the darkness, it takes me a long moment to recognize Gabriel.

“Care to go for a spin?” he asks.

Without waiting for a reply, he swings his leg over my bike.

I stare at him for a long moment. Maybe if I don’t move, he’ll just get off?

“Better hurry, unless you want Kade to come out and find you in your sorry state.”

My exhale leaves me in a rush. I grab my helmet and yank it on. I don’t have a second one, and after what he put me and Antonio through, I’m not inclined to give up mine. I climb on and sit well back, gripping the side straps.

His body jerks as he kick-starts the bike. It rumbles to life, and he lets out a shout at the same time that he hits the throttle.

We rocket forward.

I lean into the motion, my knees barely touching his hips. If this were anyone else, I’d hold on to them. Okay, not anyone else, but I can think of a few I’d be comfortable enough to wrap my arms around.

We speed off toward South Falls. He seems comfortable enough on a bike, shifting gears with his foot like he’s done it a thousand times. Before we reach the industrial district, he turns onto the highway that leads out of Sterling Falls.

I flip my visor up to yell, “Where are we going?”

He glances back with a wide grin. “You’ll see!”

I sigh. It only takes a minute of squinting into the wind for me to flick the visor back into place. We ride almost to the very edge of Sterling Falls.

There, just before the town line, is an unmanned toll scanner. It’s a small outpost installed by my brother and his friends, meant to collect license plates and bill accordingly. It also tracks who enters, if anyone bothers to use such technology.

He kills the engine and coasts the last hundred yards, sticking his legs out wide until we’ve slowed enough for him to drop his heels.

He sets down the kickstand and hops off, practically skipping toward the scanner. It by itself isn’t anything special… it’s the building farther off the road, which houses the generator and computer system, that matters.

I tear my helmet off and set it down, tempted to just slide forward and ride away.

But also…

“What are you doing?” I shout.

He laughs. His sudden kick to the scanner shouldn’t surprise me, but I flinch at the crack of hard plastic giving way. He slams his heel into it again, his laugh morphing into a wild cackle.

“Try it, Artemis!”

I cross my arms. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

He pauses, pouting in my direction. “Live a little, would you? You’re back from the dead. That’s cause for celebration.”

I scoff.

“Plus.” He drops his foot and faces me. “I heard you burned down Kade’s house.”

“I didn’t.”

He tsks. “Liar, liar, pants on…”

A match and book appears in his hands like a magic trick. He strikes the match along the side, and a flame bursts into existence.

“ Fire ,” he finishes.

I scowl.

He blows out the match and drops it. “Don’t worry, dear Artemis. I approve of the act.”

There are a lot of things wrong with this picture. Like how I even trusted him enough to get on the back of the bike, to let him bring me out here…

We’re surrounded by trees. A few miles southeast lies the westernmost edge of the harbor, but that’s about it as far as civilization goes. Sterling Falls is isolated, well and truly.

It never seemed like a bad thing, though. Not until right now.

“Kade has moved into Madness,” Gabriel informs me. “Temporarily, he assures me. Who knows what that means? Real estate in Sterling Falls is taking a plunge… he could get something cheap. But have you seen him? He’s so particular.”

I follow him toward the building, drifting in his wake as if I’m tethered to him. He kneels at the door and inserts picks. His micromovements are efficient, and soon he has it open.

We enter.

I’ve never been in here—I’m not sure what I was expecting.

But there’s a desk, and a handwritten log of people who have been in here, a single monitor.

Against the wall are rows of machines. Computer processing whatever.

Like straight out of a spy movie. The generator in another corner, protected by a metal cage, hums.

There’s a light switch. I reach for it, and the fluorescent tube overhead buzzes and flickers on.

“But…” Gabriel sighs. “Kade being there means our meetings have to stop.”

“No,” I blurt out. I want to snatch the word back as soon as it’s spoken aloud. I should be thrilled that I can’t get drugs anymore. I mean—besides the syringe currently in my jacket pocket.

He beams. “I knew you liked me.”

“I don’t,” I grit out.

“Boo.” He sighs. “I mean, truthfully? Heroin is expensive. I’m afraid I created a freeloader in you, Artemis. What would your father say?”

I don’t react.

Can’t.

I once told him about my parents in confidence. How my father first sold Apollo to the Hell Hounds to cover his debt, and later me into Terror when he couldn’t climb his own way out of the hole.

And now it’s being thrown in my face.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Gabriel breathes. “It was just a harmless, tiny little question. Honestly. You didn’t end up where we did?—”

That’s it.

I knew there was a reason.

“I didn’t pay for drugs any more than you have. Well, I didn’t pay in cash.” He waves me off. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not going to whore you out. The kind of work I’m thinking of goes in a different direction.”

Invisible ropes tighten around my throat.

“You’re bribing me?”

He gasps. “What? No . Bribery is so… crude . You’re already addicted, aren’t you? A baby druggie hiding her sins from those closest to her. You’re doing this because you need it, not because you want it. What do you call that?”

“Under duress?”

Gabriel snaps his fingers. “You can tell that to the sheriff if he ever catches wind of us.”

“There’s no us ,” I snap.

“Sure.” He nods sagely, then springs forward. Quick as a whip, he has the syringe from my pocket in his possession. I reach for it, but he blocks me. “This godlike feeling is a rush. I giveth, I taketh away.”

Those ropes tighten until I can barely breathe. I reach for him, snarling, and he just dances away. My stomach screams when I lunge, and I stumble across the open floor. He dodges, twists. Twirls.

Taps me on the shoulder.

Pointless . In this condition.

Stopping, my shoulder stooping, I take a breath.

Then another, while my brain convinces my body to be rational.

To not do exactly what he wants me to do.

“There.” He strokes my hair. “Sit here for a moment.”

I sit at the desk. Stare at the monitor, which illuminates under Gabriel’s quick shake of the mouse.

A bar for a password pops up. I stare at it, my brow furrowed, while Gabriel undoes my jacket and maneuvers my arm out.

“Contemplate that, would you?” He hums. “Best guess. You succeed, you get this.”

Fuck .

I have no idea what’s on this ancient computer. The fans inside it whir. The username is in white font just above the password bar. AMadden .

That could be me—but it’s not. It’s my twin.

My heart aches, but the more pressing distraction is the one at my arm. Gabriel kneels next to the chair, cleaning the spot. The bite of elastic in my biceps makes my fingers go numb the longer he waits.

He presses on a vein, checking it.

And I can’t possibly think of a password.

He glides the needle into my vein. Checks that he hit it, then waits.

This is the worst form of edging, because my mind can’t operate like this. I type in something that could work, one-handed, then pause. If I get it wrong, it might shut me down.

Gabriel tilts his head.

I hit enter .

The bar shakes, clearing, and I frown.

What would Apollo do? It was probably set before his relationship status changed, which means… well, there were significantly more things that meant a lot less to him. Olympus, for example, or me.

Okay. Just…

I roll the chair back and duck down. Gabriel keeps pressure on the needle in my arm, going with me, and I spot the pale-yellow sticky note a second before he does. I pull it loose and slap it down in the light.

Olympus5Madden!

Gabriel scoffs.

I agree. But I type it in and hit enter again, and a second later, the desktop appears.

“Good girl,” he murmurs.

He hits the plunger at the same time.

My eyelids flutter. This one feels like… more . Stronger. The tide that rises, lifting me up and away, doesn’t stop when it obliterates my pain. It carries away my brain, too. All my thoughts go, and every little thing touching my skin sings .

I swear.

I shift, leaning back, and groan at the way my shirt collar slides across my throat.

He picks me up. It’s not sexual in the slightest, but I may as well be having an orgasm. I trap my moan behind my teeth and drag my fingers over my closed eyelids. Across every eyelash, down my cheekbones.

I’m set down, and then I’m moving. The sway of it is like the ocean, all-encompassing, and I happily sink down into it.